It Takes Much Longer Than You Think (Or Want)

0:00Ryan Holiday: Shopping at Whole Foods is one of the things I do in our family. Like the grocery shopping is my job. So I was glad to be able to do that even on vacation. And then, you know, being here in Hawaii, it was the same Whole Foods experience we're thinking about. But then also a bunch of regional stuff, too, that they only have at this Whole Foods. We love shopping at Whole Foods because there's always new flavors and foods to choose from whichever Whole Foods you are like, whichever Whole Foods you happen to be at. So save on regional flavors at Whole Foods Market, and maybe I'll see you at the Whole Foods in Austin sometime.

0:35Ryan Holiday: Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, designed to help bring those four key stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom into the real world.

0:49Ryan Holiday: It takes much longer than you think or want. Nobody likes waiting. Nobody likes it when somebody else's turn takes longer than you feel it should. But you know what? That's just how it goes. The 40s and 50s were rough for a young James Stockdale, as they were for many young military officers. Due to the rapid expansion and contraction of the armed forces after World War II, there was an enormous glut of senior officers that became known as the Hump. It took years for these people to retire and make advancement possible for these younger officers. This was frustrating and demoralizing. It was difficult, too, especially for people like Stockdale who were ambitious, ready to lead, ready for their turn.

1:36Ryan Holiday: But again, that's life. It's Marcus Aurelius having to wait 20 years for Antoninus to pass the throne to him. It's the professors and executives who are hanging on to their jobs longer and longer, making it hard for new graduates, to get those opportunities. It takes longer than you think or want. It just does. And as we've said, this will require you to learn the virtue of patience. First, to resist the temptation to rush ahead or force things. Second, to learn while you are waiting. Stockdale didn't know what the waiting was preparing him for. Marcus Aurelius didn't either. Neither do you. But almost everything worthwhile, like wisdom and leadership and mastery and opportunity, take more time than we expect, than we want.

2:23Ryan Holiday: The timeline is longer. The apprenticeship is longer. The climb is longer. It won't be easy. But nobody said it would be.

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